When President Bush signed a powerful new law prohibiting genetic discrimination last month, it was great news – even though the law doesn’t take effect until next year. Here is how these safeguards matter in the meantime.
The new Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, or GINA, creates important protections that give you more control over your DNA and your health.
Among its key provisions, the law states that:
- Employers can’t use your genetic information in hiring decisions, salary decisions or employment practices.
- Employers also can’t require you to take a genetic test, except in very limited circumstances where health testing is required to protect worker safety.
- Health insurers can’t use your genetic information to block you from a health plan or charge you more for health insurance. They also can’t ask you to take a genetic test.
- These insurance rules cover all health plans of all sizes, from large company plans to state-run insurance and individual health policies.
These changes are important for making many people feel more comfortable about knowing and understanding their genetic information – so important that advocates spent more than a decade fighting to get them passed. After all that time, it would be great if GINA took effect immediately.
But most new federal laws don’t work that way. It’s normal to have a gap between the day a law is signed and the day it starts to take effect. Government agencies, for example, need that time to accommodate any changes the new law will require.
In the meantime, GINA’s passage sets an important legal tone: Genetic discrimination in health insurance and the workplace won’t be tolerated. Put that message alongside the many state laws already guarding against genetic discrimination, and you’ve got an impressive coalition protecting many aspects of your genetic information.
GINA, of course, isn’t all-powerful. The law has some noteworthy limitations. But it’s still a critical step for protecting many important aspects of our lives in a genetically informed world. And it’s a step that already matters, well in advance of the date it becomes effective.
Melly Scheneieder Nov 18, 2009
great post thanks.